On October 15th, 2012 General parliamentary elections took place in Lithuania. Some of the elected party names are likely to be familiar to anybody (Christian Democrats, Labour, Socialdemocrats, Liberals). However, the new "Drąsos Kelias" (Way of Courage) movement also gained seats, receiving 8% of the vote. The party's origins in a single controversial 2009 murder/child custody/paedophilia case may be hard to believe for outsiders.

For 4 years already Lithuania is torn by the unfolding drama now called "The Garliava story", after a suburb of Kaunas. This is a group of intertwined criminal cases with at least 2 people murdered, 2 more people dead in mysterious circumstances. In the opinion of a significant part of Lithuania's population, morality and law stand on the different sides in the Garliava story.

Here is an explanation of that story as one is likely to encounter the issue in Lithuania, in the form of public protests, jokes, and heated debates.

Girl's rape videotestimony shocks Lithuania

It all came to public attention in 2009 August when Drąsius Kedys, a father of then 5-year-old girl, provided every major media company with a copy of a video recording where his own daughter tells how she was molested and raped by paedophiles. Media reported this but refused to air the complete recording due to children rights protection. Instead, they interviewed Drąsius Kedys who claimed that due to the influence of purported paedophiles he was unable to find any redress in the Lithuanian justice system and was forced to adopt desperate measures.

Drąsius Kedys then uploaded the full recording of his daughter's testimony on the internet, where it can still be seen today. There were supposedly three paedophiles involved: politician Andrius Ūsas, judge Jonas Furmanavičius and mysterious Aidas. If that would not be enough, Drąsius Kedys's daughter was supposedly pimped by her own mother Laimutė Stankūnaitė (a former girlfriend of Drąsius Kedys) and Stankūnaitė's sister Naruševičienė.

Two alleged paedophiles murdered, Kedys revered

What started as an unprecedented avalanche of publicity took a sharp new turn in October 2009, when a premeditated murder of two people took place. The alleged paedophile judge Furmanavičius and Stankūnaitė's sister Naruševičienė were both gunned down in daytime Kaunas. Drąsius Kedys, the prime suspect, disappeared, triggering a major Europe-wide search. However, even though the majority believed Kedys to be the killer, surprisingly many people regarded him to be a hero, a Robin Hood-like fighter against the corrupt system when all other attempts failed. Since then, protests on the issue are regular in Lithuanian streets and even the Lithuanian communities abroad.

Stankūnaitė and Ūsas received state-sponsored security as everybody knew that if Kedys is the killer, he would return for the remaining members of the five. A legal battle for the Kedys daughter (who now resided with Kedys's sister Venckienė) commenced in courts, echoed by another case where charges of paedophilia were brought against Ūsas. The defendants claimed that Kedys just never could live with the fact that Stankūnaitė left him for Ūsas, and this public smearing campaign is merely a cold-blooded revenge. The murder of Furmanavičius, they said, was masterminded by Venckienė, Kedys's sister and a judge in the same court as Furmanavičius. Many did not believe this, and each side gained vocal supporters from every stratum of Lithuanian society imaginable: artists, businessmen, students, lawyers, priests, sportsmen, workers, former freedom fighters, politicians and gangsters.

Pro-Kedys side gained a better momentum, successfully mobilising internet and media. As the situation in courts made it seem likely that the girl would be awarded to Stankūnaitė, Kedys supporters established a permanent guard near Venckienė's house in Garliava suburb of Kaunas. The faces of the main characters of the story dominated TV news and many of the newspapers first pages. Numerous one-sided TV shows were created with many journalists empathically supporting only one side and smearing the other. Perhaps as many conspiracy theories were created on the issue as there are on the September 11, 2001, events in the USA. The likelihood of seeing the Garliava story heroes and villains on TV screen surpassed that of major sports stars and politicians. Four books were published on the case (one by Venckienė herself) and the story was dramatized in TV series. Paintings, songs, comics and countless internet memes were created.

Painting of rats devouring a doll and Lithuanian flags is a continuation of freedom-themed series of similar paintings from 1992.

Kedys and Ūsas found dead, conspiracy theories surge

Garliava story continued like a good thriller, giving a new sensational twist to its spectators every time some of them started to get bored. On April 20th, 2010 a body of Drąsius Kedys was found near Kaunas reservoir. He was dead for merely a day, raising questions on where was he hiding that was never answered. Tabloids suggested anything from his relatives house to a nearby bunker, to a psychiatric hospital where Kedys was supposedly put into by his enemies and eventually murdered. The official investigation said that Kedys died his own death. Multiple statues were erected by Kedys's supporters at the place of his death (Šlienava suburb of Kaunas) and another one marks his grave in Garliava cemetery.

Additional several months and another strange death happened. This time, the purported paedophile Andrius Ūsas drowned in a shallow pond. Versions from lynching by pro-Kedys activists to a murder by fellow paedophiles or even a conspiracy involving the secret services ran abound. Official version: Ūsas died after his quad bike crashed (the quad was found nearby).

The Kedys case was swiftly dubbed "The Killer Case" by the media. In addition to these four deaths, there were more deaths and injuries suffered by certain other people whose involvement in the Garliava story was minor. The deaths of Ūsas and Kedys did not stop the epic court battles as both of them continue to be tried posthumously at the request of their relatives, who seek acquittal of the deceased so their family honor could be restored.

Fight for girl custody mobilize many thousands

It was the third case, the one dealing with the custody of Kedys's daughter, that attracted the most interest, as court after the appellate court decided that the daughter should live with Stankūnaitė. The disgruntled Kedys supporters completely surrounded Venckienė's house, frequently disturbing even Stankūnaitė's attempts to exercise her right to meet her daughter, let alone take her home.

In early 2012, a final decision was made by the courts without possible further appeal. The state had to end the stalemate to restore its credibility. The first serious attempt to enforce court decisions on March 2012 failed after 60-something policemen were eventually stopped by child rights agency because the brawl was deemed harmful to Kedys's daughter.

Lithuanian Woodstock in Garliava

Following this first major battle, Venckienė's courtyard became a kind of Woodstock for Kedys supporters. Constant guard of people, now forming a cohesive community, lived there, prepared their food, debated and celebrated. Regular gigs, shows, and other events took place, performed by pro-Kedys musicians and artists free of charge. Roman Catholic mass used to be held every evening, celebrated by pro-Kedys priests. Purple color prevailed, as it became the symbol of Kedys - solely because the most famous picture of him that was published in newspapers depicted him wearing a purple sweater. Slogans such as "How much of Drąsius do you have in yourself?" and paintings of rats (devouring a doll girl and Lithuanian national symbols), donated by a pro-Kedys painter, surrounded the yard, and it all used to be transmitted online live. Alternative celebrations of major holidays also took place in the Venckienė's courtyard.

Tension reached its apogee by May 2012 when the second attempt to take the child from Venckienė, now backed by a 250-strong police force, was successful. The Kedys's daughter was hidden from public view together with her mother, while major protests moved from Garliava to the streets of Vilnius and Kaunas. The aftershocks reached even Chicago, where the president of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, on an official visit, had her car blocked by local Kedys supporters who were chanting "Shame, shame".

The pro-Kedys movement turns political

Pro-Kedys activists were banned from establishing a camp in front of President's palace so they now protest there every day and leave at night with their posters. A worldwide protest movement "TIE-SOS" (a pun on words "Tiesos" meaning "[We request the] truth" and "SOS" distress signal) commenced. Other issues where Lithuanian government allegedly hides the truth due to corruption were also raised: such as the death of intelligence officer Vytautas Pociūnas.

Political party "Drąsos Kelias" (litterally "Way of Courage", but in fact a pun on Kedys's name "Drąsius" which means "The courageous one") was established by pro-Kedys activists, including Venckienė, her aunt Skučienė. It is led by priest Jonas Varkala, who was asked by his superiors to suspend his priesthood if he opts for political activity (he complied).

Political scientists and the first polls were not optimistic, while Venckienė claimed that she would win the elections on 15th of October, 2012. The truth was somewhere in-between as "Drąsos Kelias" received 8% of votes (~17% of all votes in Kaunas, the closest city to Garliava), passing the necessary 5% threshold and entering parliament.

The saga continues.

In everybody of us there is a parent and a child,
In everybody of us there is greed and moderation,
In every soul - a ray of light,
In every heart - Drąsius Kedys.
In every bullet there is a piece of truth,
In every family there is a little world,
In everyone's eyes there is a reflection of God,
Everybody of us is a judge,
Everybody of us is a thief.

(a translation of a refrain of a hip-hop song praising Drąsius Kedys)

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Stop the killer cult. Do not dare talk about Woodstock in Garleva 🙂 It was just a small x-factor losers gig in da village. Let your readers know kedys shot young woman and judge. Shame on killers worshipper.

:(This election showed us again that there is no democracy. party who won, were giving 10 Lt for a vote,prisoners had to vote for them too or they will get beaten,buses organaised for bringing homeless people to vote.Many things we don`t know .Sadly there was nothing done about it.I say they left a lot of money for it..
I`m sure party”Drasos Kelias”had to get more places..I`m not wondering why:( Horrible ..

Agree:D there no democracy in Lithuania. At all. relatives of prime suspect Kedys, his sister ex-judge and her aunty hairdresser both suspects in many criminal cases going for MP:D instead of giving evidence both suddenly had health problems 😀 sure it does sound as election were held rather in Columbia. Just another post-communist country.

UPDATE: As more than a year have passed from this post, an update on what happened since:

*Contrary to the skepticism of some politologists the „Way of Courage“ parliamentary faction did not collapse.

*Neringa Venckienė, the sister of Drąsius Kedys and a MEP, came under prosecution for failing to adhere to the court decision to give up the Kedys‘s daughter. Parliament stripped her of her immunity. Afterwards Neringa Venckienė disappeared and was later found out to be living in Chicago, presumably hoping to get assylum and promising to get back when the justice system of Lithuania is overhauled (she thinks a decision against her would be biased otherwise). Anti-Kedys camp claims Venckienė left the country as she may have played a more important role in the deaths of Kedys’s victims than is now known and fears this will come into light. Other political factions have suggested impeachment on N. Venckienė for not working in the parliament anymore but this is legally not possible for now.

*L. Stankūnaitė also moved to live abroad and took her (and Kedys‘s) daughter with her. Her supporters claim that life in Lithuania was no longer bearable to her (as everybody knew both her and her daughter) while Kedys supporters claim this would make it easier to hide pedophilia and other similar crimes.

*In general the Kedys case is keeping a lower profile today than a couple of years back as some people got annoyed by the time media used to dedicate to it. However both sides still have a vocal and vehement support.

It is not publically known. Since she is a child, her life is generally not public, although her name became public during the events.

It was generally assumed that after getting the child, Stankūnaitė has emigrated with her to the UK or somewhere else, likely changing her name (despite the initial assurances by the Lithuanian institutions to Kedys’s supporters that she would not be allowed to emigrate so as the Lithuanian child services could watch her).

In 2016, after a long silence, Stankūnaitė’s father contacted the media claiming that his daughter and granddaughter are living happily in some unspecified country.

At the same time, there were conspiracy theories from the other side that Stankūnaitė’s daughter may have been killed by now.

In any case, the situation slowly went off the public radar. The “Way of Courage” political party has failed to defend their seats in the parliamentary election of 2016, gaining a very small percentage of the vote (0,27%, coming last). To many pro-Kedys activists, the whole thing started to seem as the lost case and they moved their attention elsewhere at the very least, voting for other parties.

Some became disillusioned with the pro-Kedys camp altogether as the camp lost a court battle after a court battle. There are still some court battles going on against the key pro-Kedys activists, such as Kedys’s neighbor Girdauskienė. Most of the trials are typically for reasons such as obstruction of justice, libel, slander or indecent behavior with children. In general, if it is assumed, as the anti-Kedys camp claims, that the paedophilia story was invented by Drąsius Kedys, then much of what was said and done by the key pro-Kedys activists would legally fall under the titles of libel/slander (claims that particular people were paedophiles), obstruction of justice (refusal to give up the child) and indecent behaviour (talking to the child about paedophilia).

To the pro-Kedys activists, however, who believe that the story was real, any such judicial actions seem to be more of a crackdown on the whistleblowers-about-the-supposed-paedophilia within the justice/political system (as the purported paedophiles held positions such as a judge or an advisor to a member of parliament).

TRUE STORY: At the age of 30 D.Kedys (yes, the same person you consider as hero!!!) lived with and f.cked L.Stankunate at her age of 13-15 !!! This is the FACT.
She got pregnant. Pedophile Kedys forced her to make abortation. THE FACT !
After a while, at the age of 16, a teenager was pregnant again and decided to give a birth. Teenager become one of youngest mothers in Lithuania (Mother of this girl Deimante Kedyte). THE FACT !!
Since Stankunaite ( Mother of Deimante) was from a poor family nobody protected her and D.KEdys and his sister Neringa Venckiene start oppress and slander her . Neringa Venckiene kidnaped their daughter and starts brainwash of her pedophile brother Kedys by telling him fake stories about this poor young mother and “pedophilia” in her home, so Kedys starts killing guiltless people because of Venckiene’s wish . But team of criminals such Venckiene still screaming that she is fighter for freedom and against pedophiles? Her brother was pedophile and killer.
Aftter Venckiene kidnaped Stankunaites & Kedys’s daughter, the court proved innocence of people Venckiene accused. So, the court obliged her to return daughter to her mother. BUT:
Venckiene thought that she can show middle finger to the law because of her immunity, so she closed herself with Stankunaites daughter in her home and failed to enforce a court judgment, although she was a judge herself! Thats why government took a child from her.

Tell me, if you had daughter 13-16 and someone in his age of 30’s was fucking her, makes her 2 children, kills one of them by sponsoring abortation, ask yourself, what would you do to such pedophile? and YES! THIS IS THE TRUE STORY THAT LITHUANIAN TROLLS WON’T TELL YOU . Venckiene’s supporters are spreading this fake report all arround the world , make hundreeds of fake facebook, google , youtube accounts, fake comments, this way you all see completely different story, and you read fake comments !!!

One thing for sure from this story (yes, it was a story No.1 in Lithuania for many years) is that the one person who was proved paedophile was Drasius Kedys himself. He, beeing a man with 30 years old lived with teenager Laimute Stankunaite. All other claims still are not proved, though not denied. One interesting fact: judge Jonas Furmanavicius was travelling to Tailand – I’m claiming nothing, but Tailand has a poor reputation for one thing. Anyway this all story still is unanswered, lots of mysterious coincidences. I don’t know what to think.